How to quote your rate to clients abroad: by the hour or by the day
Clients abroad usually ask for a rate, not a project price. Work yours out from your life and turn it into an hourly and a day price. No sign-up.
Three mistakes that pull your income down
1. A rate by feel. People name a number by eye and then can't defend it: at the first request for a discount they give in, because there's nothing to explain it with.
2. A day treated as a sum of hours. If a client takes your whole day, you can't sell the rest of that day to anyone else. Treat a day as taken, not as a sum of hours.
3. One price for any scope. An hour, a day and a package are different products. A client who knows the scope picks a package, a client without a clear scope picks hours.
They'll ask for your rate in the first email
With clients abroad, consulting and design are usually sold by the hour and by the day. The first question isn't «how much is the project» but «what's your rate».
«It depends» reads as «I don't know». A number with a calculation behind it sounds different: you can explain where it came from.
Below is how to name a price by the hour, the day or the week, and when each fits.
From a rate to a day and a week price
Take the rate from the moving example: €113 an hour.
- An hour → ≈ €113
- A day (8 hours) → ≈ €900
- A week (5 days) → ≈ €4,500
The rate assumes 75 hours sold a month. If one client takes almost all of your time, the load is different, and it's worth recalculating with it.
Working out your rate is half the job
The calculator tells you what to charge. The timer shows what you actually get: how many hours you worked today, how many of them are paid, and how much is left until your daily target.
A rate without tracked hours is a promise to yourself that nobody checks.
Five of your numbers, not someone else's median
Going by someone else's rate makes no sense: it's built from someone else's life — another city, another tax, another share of paid hours. Yours comes from five numbers, and all of them are about you.
Common questions
What do I say if a client asks for a «rate» but I work per project?
Name an hourly price and explain that the project is built from hours. How to check a project price against your rate — see hourly or fixed price.
How do I choose between an hour and a day?
If the work breaks into hours — an hour. If the client wants you for a whole day: a shoot, a workshop, work inside their team — a day. More in the day rate.
Which currency should I quote in?
In the one you spend in, if the client is willing to pay in it. Otherwise the exchange rate decides what you end up earning.
What do I say if they ask for a discount?
A discount is somebody's hours for free. First check how much margin your rate has, and offer a concession on scope, not on the price of the hour.
Rate, hours and projects in one place
A minute on how it works day to day.
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